Any references to methods, apparatus or documents of the prior art are not to be taken as constituting any evidence or admission that they formed, or form part of the common general knowledge.
Mattresses for beds are difficult objects to handle. Typically they are formed of plurality of internal metal springs which are interconnected by a mesh. The coils and mesh are then covered with a layer of flexible foam which is in turn covered by an outer fabric layer. Consequently mattresses are relatively heavy and difficult to grasp easily. Furthermore, since they are flexible they may twist out of a person's grasp in an unpredictable fashion.
In some situations there is a need to handle a large number of mattresses very frequently. One example of such a situation is the hotel industry where large numbers of beds must be made up with fresh bed linen. Obviously the more time that it takes to change a bed the more personnel are required and the greater the associated overhead.
In the past some attempts have been made to provide a mattress which is adapted for improved handling. One approach has been to include handles on opposed sides of the mattress. In some instances the handles include members that penetrate through the fabric and foam layers to terminate fast with the internal mesh. It will be realized that it is difficult and expensive to manufacture mattresses of this type. Furthermore, while such mattresses may assist in addressing the problem of moving an unmade mattress from one place to another, they do not generally assist in handling a mattress that bears a fitted sheet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mattress that addresses one or more of the above described problems or which is at least a useful alternative to those mattresses that have hitherto been known in the prior art.